my life in a philadelphia rowhome with my five children, ages 4 thru 11, and the daily insanity that ensues.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

life is good

it's a double shot tuesday!...

so, in my opinion, there is absolutely nothing better than a nice day on the beach. which is where i spent five hours on sunday. my grandparents live in north cape may, nj and we are very fortunate to live within driving distance. we can pop in whenever we feel like and spend the weekend at the shore. the best part about it is that my grandparents really seem to enjoy having us there. crazy, right? this past weekend, we had a surprise party for tommy's uncle, which tommy was not able to go to (he was dj'ing a party on saturday and another on sunday). therefore, i roped my mother in to going to the party with me with the promise of going to the shore directly from the party.

the trip to the shore was uneventful, everyone was pretty well behaved. when we got to my grandparents, it was extra fun for the kiddies as my aunt, who had 4 children ages 9 to 1 was there, too. (have i mentioned how very large my family is yet? my mother is the oldest of 8 and there are about 64 members of her immediate family now.) i know most normal people just read that and said: wait! is this girl saying that they had NINE kids 9 and under staying in ONE RANCH STYLE HOUSE for the weekend?!!? yes, that is what i am saying. i didn't say sleeping was fun, i just said it was fun for the kids, not necessarily the adults.

so anyway, on sunday we got up, had breakfast (which is a must at the shore) and got ready for the beach. after about a half hour of sunblocking (my children are literally the WHITEST children on the planet), off we went to the beach. we got there by 11:30 am! you are so super impressed, i know (i did mention that we had 9 kids we were taking with us, right?). when we got there we met up with: my aunt sue, aunt gail, aunt susan, eileen, joe, eileen (who had maddy and grace with her, 1 yo and 5 yo), aunt teresa, shannon, christine, lauren and two of her friends, plus my mom, grandmom, bernadette and her kids (there everyone...you got the blog mention!). the kids were awesome! i totally did not have to deal with one single tear for five hours! that is unheard of. it was a great day. i am so glad that my kids enjoy the beach as much as i do and that we've gotten past the rough years that involve cranky babies eating sand and needing naps while on the beach. i loved sunday.

i have posted some pictures of the kiddies on the beach, including those of jack's incredible find. he found a conch shell...WITH A LIVING CONCH! it was one of the craziest things i have ever seen on wildwood's beach (and trust me, the place is not called "wild"wood for nothing. some pretty crazy things can be seen there). my children are total city kids (as are their parents). they don't dig for bugs or touch frogs or pick up worms. they are afraid of bugs, for crissake. however, jack found this huge shell with the conch in it and decided it was his new pet. he carried it around all day. we did convince him to leave it on the beach when we were leaving (i don't think there is a big conch survival rate in fishtown, or in philadelphia for that matter). we are planning on visiting the conch next time we are down the shore. hopefully he has decided to stay on 16th street.

thank you everyone for all of your help on sunday. it really was a great day!

17 comments:

That sounds WONDERFUL! We had a "family beach day" with aunts and cousins last year while visiting my parents in Maine and it was such a good time...

I have broken down and started buying the spray-on sunscreen exclusively. The price makes me shudder, but I find it more than balances out the 45 minutes I don't have to spend slathering everyone before we can go outside.

And also - I would now like to share both your mother AND your grandparents. Mkay?

you seemed enjoying it and you must! it does not happen all the time, especially on winter season, right? kids are enjoying it more. my day is complete again, because i see the pics of your kids,soooooo lovely!

piecemeal - you can so totally borrow my family! my grandparents are about halfway between the two of us anyway, i think!alicia - we only had 11 kids with us and it was crazy! have fun!mrs. fish - i love the beach and that book would have been perfect beach reading! now, if only i was able to actually sit in a chair on the beach for more than two minutes at a time.lani - cape may is the best, isn't it?sjt - there is nothing quite like the ocean. hit 40 - you can stop here and visit us on your way down to virginia!meg - hate to break it to you, but the beach is going to suck bad for you this year. luckily, there are enough family members that like babies that you will have help. definitely bring some wine or margaritas, though! can you even believe one of my kids would touch that thing!?!?!?!lolit - thank you! it was such a great day!

I love the pictures! I heart the beach, makes the kids sleep GOOD. ;) Mud holes (like balls!) must be a common thread in the male species. Max found one in the Mojave desert and stomped in it clean up to his knee caps, totally ruined his only shoes I packed for the cross country trip from CA to VA. I have never seen a living conch before on our beach, thats pretty sweeeet!